Once upon a time, - one boy and his dog

Gawain and Ivan traveled every night till the sun rose. They would search for a place with food and water and sleep in the open all day.

They had enough money to buy food and shelter for five days, but Igor was getting homesick already in the second day.

Before, when he traveled with his brothers, he felt like he belonged somewhere. Now, it was just him and Ivan, alone in the vast worldwide.

His cowardly part was always trying to convince him to give up and go to town with his brothers. But the fearless part he'd grown up with during the journey kept him focused on his goal, he was conscientious of being Gawain, the most cowardly son of the great dastardly wizard. Ivan was a great company, he protected Gawain not only from beasts and outlaws, but also from the loneliness.

At the end of the third day, Gawain and Ivan arrived in a very dark forest.

You could only distinguish the branches of the first trees that started the forest.

It was as if a huge black cloud took over the rest.

Gawain swallowed his fear and made Ivan go into the forest. The kind dog dared not go against his master's orders.

At the moment Ivan got his first pawn into the dark forest, Gawain could not see an inch in front of him. It was all just dark. Even so, Ivan kept walking, to fulfill his master's wish.

Gawain clutched at Ivan's fur and the two walked through the darkness to the end of the darkness.

There, they found a clearing that looked like magic, it was so beautiful.

A garden of flowers and ornamental trees surrounded a beautiful winter hut. The sunbeams that passed through the black cloud that covered all the surroundings, decorated the place, giving a mystical aura. There was only one problem, the hut entrance was facing the black cloud.

This time Gawain was lucky.

Of the three brothers, he is the only one who was a little interested in witchcraft as a child. So, he knew the trick to entering the magic hut.

Gawain went out of his mind, faced the back of the hut and said:

- Oh, magic hut, turn to me. I am a guest and I know your password. פתוח שׂוּמשׂוּם!

The winter hut began to shake and slowly rose. Underneath there was giant chicken legs that turned to Gawain before curling back down again.

Ivan returned to his normal size and entered the hut accompanied by Gawain.

The door was open, and the hut was completely quiet.

Gawain walked slowly, searching for the magic horse the firebird had spoken about.

The first room was an open room that merged with a huge kitchen with a swaying stove in the center. But before Gawain can further explore he hears a very self-righteous purring coming from upstairs.

-Zzzzz

Gawain freezes instantly, but Ivan's instincts make him bark without thinking.

-Woof, Woof!

The owner of the snore woke up. Her heavy footsteps walk across the room and start going down the stairs.

Ivan immediately regrets and goes to seek shelter with Gawain.

They hide behind barrels sacks of flour that were stored under the stairs.

The witch arrives in the room, she was a wrinkled old woman wearing poor clothes and full of warts.

She stretches while yawning. When the witch stretches, her hump disappears, and when she yawns her teeth line up.

The witch then rubs her eyes, making all her wrinkles and warts disappear. Finally, she dusts her clothes and the clothes become new and ornate as if she's always been there under the dust.

- Do not be afraid my young guests, I do not want you any harm. - The witch claimed in a sweet voice, but Gawain had heard many things about witches and would not trust her that easily. He remained quiet behind the barrels.

The witch continues: - How about I offer you a contract? Work for me for three days and I will grant you a wish. But if you fail your work, I will have to punish you.

Gawain calmed down a bit. She didn't say anything about eating them and even offered a fair deal. For a boy of his innocence, that was enough. He came out from behind the barrel and introduced himself to the witch.

-I am Gawain, the younger son of the great magician. I am here because the firebird told me you had an excellent horse. I am willing to accept the deal for the horse. - The witch opened a strange smile and clapped her hands in excitement when Gawain accepted the contract.

- What an honor, what an honor, young man. Come with me, I'll introduce you to the house.

The witch took the boy's hand and showed him the kitchen, the living room, the garden, the room where the boy would stay and even the basement and basement of the house.

This gave Gawain a little more confidence (just as the witch wanted)

Gawain felt the witch had nothing to hide, he also saw no evidence that she ate humans.

Finally, the witch showed him the stables, there were many mares and only one horse.

- The horse you want is that white steed at the back of the stables- Spoke the witch - But if you want him, you'll have to take good care of all the mares and take them to pasture daily. If even one mare is missing, you won't have any meals for a whole day, no water, no bread. - ordered the witch.

Gawain thought it was fair. The mares were probably magic and losing them would be great harm, he thought.

That night, Gawain had a good dinner and went to sleep in his accomodations, which were not very luxurious but not uncomfortable either.

The next day arrived before Gawain even realized he had fallen asleep.

He woke up early in the morning, and went to have breakfast, but the witch said:

- Without eating until you take the mares to graze!

Gawain obeyed the witch and went to the stables to take the mares to pasture.

But as soon as Gawain opened the barn doors, all the mares fled into the shadowy forest.

Gawain was startled, but soon recovered, mounted Ivan, and they entered the forest.

For all his new bravery, Gawain could not find any mares.

The dark cloud made that even with the morning sun, you could not see more than two meters in front of you.

Gawain and Ivan searched and searched but found nothing. There are many moments when Gawain swore he had seen a mare, but as soon as the mare caught sight of Gawain she was soon lost in darkness again.

Gawain and Ivan were getting more and more tired and hungry.

It got to the point that Gawain could eat anything edible that appeared in front of him.

A short time later as they walked, Ivan heard a bird singing.

They followed the corner and found a quail nest. In the nest there were seven small eggs, it was little food, but Gawain would accept even a crumb of bread.

He climbed a tree until he arrived, but before he could catch the eggs the mother quail appeared from the dark cloud and went to Gawain.

-Please! Don't eat my eggs! - begged the quail.

Gawain was startled by the quail talking, but he was soon reminded that he was in a witch's yard and had slept in a chicken-foot hut.

-But I'm starving! - Gawain complained.

-I beg you! They are my puppies! If you don't eat them, I'll be in your debt. - Said the quail.

Gawain thought for a moment, it felt really wrong to eat the eggs of a talking quail.

-Okay, I'm not eating them. - Gawain finally replied.

-Thank you very much! What are you doing in these strange lands? - Inquire the quail.

-I'm working for the witch, I must take care of the mares, but they all escape. -Said Gawain sadly.

-Oh! How difficult, I wish you luck, I'll help if I can. - The quail replied.

-Thank you very much- Gawain said to the quail before climbing down the tree and continuing the search with Ivan.

They continued to search, but the results were the same as before, nothing.

As the sun began to go down, the cloud took over even more, and Gawain felt as if he were walking blindly.

Looking no further, he returned to the witch's hut to tell her that he had lost his mares. But to his surprise, when he arrived at the stables, all the mares were there!

He entered the hut and the witch asked:

-Where are my mares boy?

-All in the stable, Madam.- Told Gawain the witch proud of himself.

-What? - Asked the angry witch.

Gawain was startled, he swore all the witch's wrinkles had come back with her warts.

Soon the witch calmed down and returned to her normal appearance.

-Then let's eat! Dinner is served! - Said the witch with a new mood, not so natural.

But Gawain's hunger spoke louder when he saw the table full. He sat at the table and tasted a little of each dish until he was full. Even Ivan forgot any suspicions he had about the witch after a good steak of raw meat.

With their bellies full, Gawain and Ivan slept like stones.

The next day, when Gawain awoke, he didn't even bother to ask for breakfast. He went straight to the stables and took the mares to graze.

This time he tried to lasso the mares before releasing them.

But he had barely caught the rope when the mares leapt from their corrals and fled into the forest.

Once again, Gawain mounted Ivan and they ran into the forest after the mares.

Gawain and Ivan tried several things. They looked in places that hadn't been there before, tried to follow the hull tracks, but to no avail. They managed to get closer to the mares than before. But as before, whenever they noticed Gawain and Ivan, they fled.

When the mid-day lightning came and made the forest a little clearer, Gawain and Ivan no longer had the strength to search. They had only had one meal the day before and were very thirsty and hungry.

But then Ivan heard the hum of a bee, and they followed the sound.

Gawain was dressed in leather, and if he put on his gloves and shielded his face, he could take honey without getting bitten too much.

They followed the little bee until it reached its hive.

It was a huge hanging hive and a tree, overflowing with honey.

Gawain drew his sword from his belt and unsheathed. But before he could even raise his sword to deliver the blow, the queen bee came out of the hive and protested.

- Don't destroy our nest, invader!

- But I'm very hungry and thirsty! - Gawain complained, already lowering the sword. This time he was not surprised that the bee could speak.

- It took us years to build our house, and winter is coming. We will all die if you destroy our home! If you don't, we will be in your debt. - The queen bee replied.

Gawain thought for a moment, it didn't seem right to kill many innocent talking bees.

Then he sighed and said:

-Okay, I'm not going to destroy your house, but can you help me find the mares and take them to the stable?

-Of course yes! Thank you very much! -The bees replied in unison.

With the help of the bees, Gawain found all the mares. The bees chased the mares and threatened stings if they didn't return to the stable. That way, they were all in the stable shortly after noon.

Gawain then entered the witch's hut and told her the news.

-I came back from the forest, all the mares grazed and are now in the corral.

"How?" asked the witch full of anger, Gawain saw the witch's hunchback come back, and her hair turn white again. But, with no delay, the witch regained her composure and said.

- Well done! Lunch is served, later there will be dinner for you too.

That day Gawain and Ivan regained all their strength and had plenty of free time to play together. To Gawain, Ivan was like a new brother.

They went to sleep soundly and woke up before the sun came up.

All the mares were still sleeping and Gawain and Ivan silently went to the stable and lassoed them.

When the mares awoke they were all in hammocks and tethered to Ivan, who had taken on his greatest form. Ivan was the size of a small tree, he was so heavy that not all the mares together had the strength to escape.

This time, Gawain managed to guide all the mares to pasture for two hours and returned before noon.

On the way back to the stable, Gawain got off Ivan. Ivan then began to shrink in size so that the mares could enter the corral.

But the mares, angry at not having been able to escape, seized the opportunity. As soon as Ivan was small enough, they ran over him and trampled him as they entered the stable.

Gawain couldn't do anything but watch.

When all the mares had entered the stable, Ivan lay still on the ground. Gawain immediately went to his aid, but there was nothing more he could do, Ivan was gone.

He cried, kneeling beside Ivan as the mares laughed in the stable.

Gawain could not bear to hear the mares' laughter and locked them in the stable while he prepared Ivan's funeral.

As he returned from fetching firewood in the forest, he saw the witch talking to the mares in the stable.

-Why are you still here! I specifically said that you should run away and not come back, but you didn't get that once!- Shouted the witch in her crone form.

-But master! First, birds of all kinds were pecking at us until we took refuge in the stable, on the second day the boy convinced bees to help him. We hate bees! And today he tied us to the giant dog while we slept! But don't worry, we managed to get rid of the dog once and for all!

The trembling mares replied, completing each other's sentences.

The witch screamed and stamped her feet angrily. -It does not matter! None of that matters! I promised him my horse, it's all lost!

The mares looked at each other and answered.

-So you just need to eat him for dinner. That way you won't need to break the promise.- The mares suggested.

The witch looked at the mares with an evil glint in her eyes.

-I knew there was a reason I kept you here. I'll let this one go, but there won't be a next time! I'll eat the boy for dinner and everything will be settled.

Gawain was terrified, but he knew what he must do.

Once he had burned Ivan's body and saved his ashes, he went to the end of the stable, where the horse he had been promised was.

It was a small and skinny colt, also badly treated. But Gawain didn't care, he had to make Ivan's death count.

He put the saddle and harness on the horse and guided him out of the stables while the mares had their mid-term nap.

When he finally passed the black cloud and exited the witch's territory, it was too late. He had walked silently to make sure the witch wouldn't notice him.

He was tired and hungry, but he didn't allow himself to cry or whine.

He turned to the newly stolen horse and asked:

-What makes you so magical? How can I be worthy to be your new master?- The horse looked into his eyes and gently replied:

-I serve any master who proves himself brave enough, your actions in the witch's hut are more than enough. But I will abandon you as soon as you show weakness, are you willing to be my master anyway?

Gawain nodded decisively.

The horse then bows to Gawain, from its back sprouted Pegasus wings and from its forehead a unicorn horn. He grew up and got the bearing of a beautiful war horse.

-You, Gawain, the youngest son of the great mage, is now my new master.- Said the white horse as he touched his horn on Gawain's forehead. A thin light enveloped the body of Gawain and from it a golden armor materialized.

-This armor protects you from any evil you wish to ward off, and will let in any blows you allow.- Explained the horse.

The armor weighed nothing on Gawain, as if it were still the light that enveloped him moments before.

Gawain admired his new clothes for a while, then realized he was bleeding from one of his forearms. He had probably injured himself in the thorny bushes of the forest while trying to escape the witch, he thought.

The horse lanced Gawain and the wound vanished like magic.

"What do you want to do now, master?" asked the horse in Gawain's mind.